


Trouble in Progress

by orphan_account



Category: Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic
Genre: Crack, Dysfunctional Family, Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-20
Updated: 2018-01-20
Packaged: 2019-03-07 01:22:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13423728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Sinbad gets called into a conference at Judal's school.





	Trouble in Progress

Sinbad gives himself a minute - just a short minute to will his thoughts to _calm down,_ because right now, he’s seriously reconsidering his life choices.

 

He wonders how terrible it’d be to drop a kid off on the side of a road.

 

 _Happy thoughts,_ his mind helpfully supplies. Right.

 

He looks down at Judal. The kid is sitting across from him, his legs kicking around aimlessly. The little shit doesn’t even look remorseful.

 

“This,” he says, and Judal’s wide eyes flicker to his before glancing away again. “Is the third time this week, Judal.”

 

Judal shrugs. “Yeah.”

 

Sinbad waits for him to say something else, like _Sorry,_ or, _I won’t do it again,_ but they never come. Instead, Judal plays with the hem of his shirt, legs still kicking around.

 

He takes one last look at the slip of paper before he scrunches it up.

 

“I got called to your school today, you know,” Sinbad says, and this seems to catch Judal’s attention. Sinbad quells the feeling of victory that rises in his chest. “We’re going to have to meet with your principal tomorrow, after school. If you run off-”

 

“I know, I know,” Judal huffs, and slides out of his seat, about to make his getaway. “I’ll be grounded forever.”

 

Sinbad smirks. If nothing else, at least he understands that.

 

* * *

 

  


Sinbad _really_ regrets his life decisions now.

 

He was having a pretty good day - the work day was fairly easy - only simple meetings where all he had to be was present - and he had the satisfaction of knowing that the kid he was currently housing was going to be ripped a new one by the cute principal (who, dare he admit, was just about as tame as a snake - he had already had a few bad experiences and rejections, but he preferred to be optimistic).

 

It immediately comes to a halt when he sees the young Ren sitting beside Judal, and, in turn, Ren Kouen.

 

His stomach turns. _Jesus Christ,_ he’s just fated to have a bad week.

 

Kouen looks up and makes a face when he sees Sinbad.

 

He tries to let that slide off of him. It doesn’t.

 

“You’re late,” Kouen states.

 

Sinbad takes the seat next to Judal. “I had work.”

 

“Uncle Kouen has been showing me pictures of his sword collection,” Judal says, a mischievous smile on his face. “He says that I can look at them next time I go over.”

 

Sinbad gawks at Kouen, who acts like he didn’t hear Judal at all.

 

“No he didn’t,” The young Ren pipes up - Sinbad has seen the kid a few times before. Hakuyuu? No, that was one of his brothers. “He said specifically that you can only look at the pictures.”

 

“Hakuryuuuu,” Judal whines. Oh, right. He always gets them mixed up. “Don’t tell on me! We’re partners in crime, remember?”

 

“You’re too young for crime,” Kouen says before the door to the principal’s office opens.

 

Ja’far steps out of the door, and his eyes sweep over the group currently nestled outside of the office. He sounds particularly tired when he tells everyone to step in, and Sinbad can’t help but feel the same way.

 

“Please sit down,” Ja’far gestures to the seats in front of his desk. Sinbad lets everyone else shuffle in before him, and earns himself a biting glare from Ja’far.

 

He huffs. He just can’t catch a break.

 

Once everyone is settled in, and Sinbad and Judal are squished together on a tiny love-seat, Ja’far stands before them.

 

“Do you know why you’ve been called in here today?” He asks.

 

There’s a bout of silence. Sinbad looks at Judal, waiting. The kid _still_ doesn’t look sorry. Jeez, how was Serendine raising him before?

 

“I-” Hakuryuu begins to say, but he begins to break out into tears.

 

Ja’far sighs and hands Hakuryuu the tissue box sitting on his desk. The kid takes it and promptly begins to blow his nose very loudly.

 

“With all due respect,” Kouen starts, and he wraps his arm around Hakuryuu in an effort to _look_ comforting. Sinbad knows this guy is a stone-cold asshole. Just _look_ at that goatee. “I believe that it is clear that Hakuryuu has little to do with the situation.”

 

“Excuse me?” Sinbad turns to face Kouen, who meets his gaze dead-on. “Are you saying that it’s all Judal’s fault?”

 

“Yes, that is exactly what I am saying,” Kouen replies. “Hakuryuu is very well-behaved at home. I don’t believe he’d ever graffiti the school walls or pass out test answers. Your kid, on the other hand...” he looks back behind Sinbad, who also turns to look at Judal, who is currently acting very nonchalant about the situation.

 

“That’s not fair,” Sinbad says, turning back around. “Hakuryuu and Judal were both caught doing it - look, he wouldn’t be crying if he weren’t guilty!”

 

Hakuryuu pauses for a second and looks at Sinbad, then an ugly noise comes from the kid’s mouth and he begins to cry _harder._

 

Ja’far slams his hand down on his desk, and their heads whip around. He looks livid. Shit.

 

“BOTH of them have been caught doing these tasks, and it doesn’t matter whether anyone was influenced or not. Now, I called you both here to act like adults, not _children._ No wonder they act out so much.”

 

Sinbad frowns, but he doesn’t say anything - he can hear Judal snickering. Ja’far sighs.

 

“The two of you,” he starts back up, glaring at Judal (who promptly stops laughing), “Are going to have a week of study hall. If you get into trouble again, it’ll be longer. Got it?”

 

Both of them nod.

 

“Good.” Ja’far looks very tired all of a sudden. “Now get out of my office.”

  


* * *

 

 

Outside, Judal wraps his arms around a still tearful Hakuryuu.

 

“Hey, stop crying,” he says, a little more rudely that Sinbad thinks he should. At least he’s showing some compassion. “I’ll show you how to make a dreamcatcher in study hall later, okay? So calm down.”

 

Hakuryuu pulls away from Judal, and his eyes are wide. “Really?”

 

Judal nods, and Hakuryuu smiles.

 

“All right, let’s go Judal,” Sinbad calls, and Judal takes another moment to say goodbye before running up to him.

 

“What’s for dinner?” He asks, casually, thinking he’s gotten away from trouble. Sinbad shakes his head.

 

“We’ll talk about that after we discuss your punishment.”

 

Judal sighs and kicks the ground. “You’re no fun at all, you know that?”

 

Sinbad vaguely remembers a time when he was the same age - when he used to run around town, acting like he owned it. When Serendine dropped by and handed off Judal, he wasn’t sure if he could handle trying to raise a kid. The memories of his childhood didn’t seem so far away at the time.

 

Judal, in a way, is a little like him.

 

“Yeah,” he says, and holds out his hand. Judal latches on. “I know.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hi Kassimu! I hope you enjoyed your gift!


End file.
